"Caspit suggested that the new 'bomb
Iran' talk wasn't based on any qualitative shift in the nature of Iran's
nuclear work. The U.S. intelligence assessment until now has been that
despite steadily accumulating the means to build nuclear weapons, Iran
has not thus far moved to enrich uranium to weapons grade or to begin
the process of actually building a bomb. Nor has it taken a strategic
decision to do so as yet.

"The problem is that the 'red lines'
adopted by Israel and the U.S. for triggering a military response are
different: President Obama has vowed to take military action to stop
Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, whereas Israel has insisted that
Iran can't be allowed to maintain the capability to build such weapons --
a technological capacity it essentially already has."

Despite this difference in perspective described by Karon, Netanyahu
is depending on his U.S. allies to support him as he makes his demands
on Obama during the politically sensitive final months of President
Obama's reelection campaign.

Should Obama be reelected, Netanyahu's threat may prove to be a major
misstep. A second term Obama would be free to proceed at his own pace
to make his own demands on Israel. Assuming that is, Obama does not give
in to the arrogance of Netanyahu's demands, which appears unlikely,
given the strong lead Obama currently has over his opponent.

- Advertisement -

Of course, anything could happen between now and November 6. Elections do have consequences.

The picture of Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting above, is a pool photo taken by Abir Sultan. It is from Reuters.

James Wall served as a Contributing Editor of The Christian Century magazine, based in Chicago, Illinois, from 1999 through 2017. From 1972 through 1999, he was editor and publisher of the Christian Century magazine. Many sources have influenced (more...)